Heart Strings
by ShivaVixen
Summary: [A darker, slightly AU rewrite of Season 2, starting at L is for Loser] Hate and Love are fairly similar, and in the end, it's not always as simple as defeating someone else to get back on track. The Guardians think they've rescued Matt, but everyone has to deal with the revelations that follow the emergence of the Knights of Destruction.
**Warnings: Questionably 'Smarter' Decision Making, Blend of Books/Comics with the main base being the Cartoon, Headcanons of the Author, and main focus on Matt and Caleb, with mentions of pairings canon to the show. Also, a more complicated plot, because unlike a cartoon, I can describe things that are happening in more abstract terms.**

 **Inspiration came from a rabid plotbunny that grew when I read Shiroi Misa's 'Hating Myself' and Lollzie's 'Added Glamour', as a result, there may be some similar themes and elements in this story, but I swear they are not intentional. I should be finishing Sentinels of Arcgen, but I'm still stuck.**

 **L is for Lost**

Matt Olsen woke up on a bed that was just barely comfortable, his pet Dormouse named by his Girlfriend 'Mr. Huggles' was chittering away. "Wha- Mr. H, calm down." Matt sat up, and like a bolt of lightning, he remembered what had happened- Will at his window, him going out, Mr. H getting upset and Will turning into, "Nerissa …" A quick glance took stock of an icy cave and the sparse furniture decorating the cell- as well as what looked to be a small alcove and a chamber pot, but no signs of the witch in question.

And no signs of his Cell Phone, which probably wouldn't have had service anyway, but it was just one more thing he could have used.

"Can't think like that, focus on what you have to work with." Matt muttered, suddenly very glad Caleb had also included some strategy and tactical lessons along with the fighting lessons.

His pockets contained some random pet treats, guitar picks (two broken, three not), a broken pencil and a scrap of paper with song lyrics that he was struggling with. The dresser revealed several shifts, and an old weathered journal that, oddly enough, included some pages of music notes, and some poor sketches of who he guessed were the old guardians. He absently hummed the notes making a rather haunting melody, and grimaced when he realized he thought it was pretty good. Now a little squicked that he might have something in common with Nerissa, he focused on the parts of the journal which contained nothing about her current plans, but a lot on how the Oracle and the other Guardians 'betrayed' her by locking her up after she killed Cassidy.

Judging from the words that were scratched out and how the pen had gone through the paper, most of this had been written just after her incarceration.

' _How dare they, all I ever wanted was to save lives, and they take away the heart just when I came up with a way to stop people from dying!'_ Read one of the more legible and slightly less repetitive sections, at which he just gave up reading it and put it back in the drawer. He found a working pen in the drawer that contained the journal, and a broken flute.

Huggles chattered at him, and Matt sighed, pulling out some of the treats he knew were rodent friendly. "Nothing much here, Mr. H." Matt sat down, keeping an eye on Huggles as he tried to think of something.

He couldn't, the only thing remotely useful Caleb had suggested for this situation was to try and leave a message in case he was moved from this Cell so that his friends would know that he'd been alive and here.

It had been one of their more sobering conversations, to tell the truth, one of the ones that had Matt realizing just how dangerous his world would become if he pursued his desire to fight alongside Will.

" _We didn't always find them. Sometimes they knew we wouldn't, and would leave messages for their loved ones." Caleb was staring off to the side, and Matt felt something in his stomach warn him against asking for more information. "I still don't know which ones I preferred to hear."_

" _Hope deferred makes the heart sick." Matt quoted the old proverb his grandfather had often offered when his parents hadn't showed up for an event. "But a desire fulfilled is a font of life." He added the other half of the proverb- he much preferred to say the entire thing._

" _There's some truth to that." Caleb had blinked and refocused on the conversation. "If you can leave a message, make sure it's someplace someone in the cell can find, but it won't be noticed by someone outside the cell. Or leave a token, if you can't leave a message."_

The lesson had then gone into techniques one could use to pass the time in a cell, and Matt reluctantly refocused on the scrap of paper. It took him a long time to come up with something, but he eventually got enough of a note to feel comfortable to fold the note under the blanket, along with a guitar pick.

"It's going to be okay Huggles, the girls will find us." He assured the dormouse, and sighed as he looked at the cave outside the bars. "I'll watch out for you, I promise."

* * *

Several Hours later in Heatherfield, Will stopped at Matt's house on her way home from school, giving in to her curiousity on how Matt was doing. No one answered the doorbell, so she went around to Matt's window.

She found it open, with Matt's hat on the ground outside of it and promptly freaked out, her phone for once not bothering to calm her down, instead calling the one guardian he was confident could calm down his owner.

"Will, slow down, all I heard was Matt's gone." Cornelia struggled to understand her friend and leader's panic, before deciding to give up. "Silver Dragon in ten minutes, I'll call the others."

Ten minutes later, W.I.T.C.H. was gathered in the basement, and Will was still just slightly less than coherent.

"Matt's gone!" She finally shouted, making Hay Lin turn invisible by reflex, and Irma jerk and fall onto Taranee. "His window was open, his hat was on the ground, and he wouldn't have put his hat on the ground when his room was just a quick toss away, he likes that hat!"

"Okay, Matt's missing, there could be a logical explanation for that-"

"We're fighting a sorceress, who has gone after us when we're alone, and has targeted people close to us before, she would most likely go after our boyfriends and families next, how much more logical do you want?" Will snapped, pulling out the Heart.

"She has a point, Nerissa was always good at distractions." Yan Lin noted, closing her eyes against the lightshow as the girls transformed. "Taking Matt may be a distraction for what she's really planning. I would try Meridian first, she seems to have based herself there."

"Let's go." Stepping through the fold, they were met by Aldarn and Drake in the entranceway of the Castle.

"Guardians, has something happened?" Drake noticed their expressions first, Aldarn was distracted by the fact that Irma had accidentally flown into him (He'd been a little too close to the fold when it had opened).

"Yeah, Nerissa's captured a friend of ours, you remember Matt?" Irma asked, Will being stopped from flying off by Cornelia and Taranee.

"I'm afraid not very well- he's been captured?" Aldarn had met the guardians a few more times than Drake, who didn't remember Matt at all. That said, it was obvious that the leader of the guardians was distressed, and it was something to be concerned about.

"There hasn't been any sign of Nerissa lately, has there?" Hay Lin asked.

"No, not since her last attack." The Mage's voice cut off Aldarn's reply. "You say Matthew was captured?"

"His window was open, his hat was on the ground outside, and his cell phone was still on his dresser." Will repeated, annoyed.

"Do you have the hat?" The Mage asked, not bothered in the least by Will's attitude. "I can use it for a spell to find him."

"Really?" Will looked at her hopefully. "It won't damage the hat, will it?"

"The hat will be undamaged, but it will take a couple hours or so, if you can spare the time. At the very least, it will reveal if he is on Meridian." The Mage took the hat carefully. "I will call you the moment the spell is complete." She promised, and walked away.

"Here, I'll show you a place where you can wait." Aldarn offered, leading them to a room with a table and soft sofas. "I'm sure we'll find him." He offered, but Will didn't seem to hear him.

"Thanks, Aldarn." Cornelia smiled at him, before ushering Will to a sofa. Aldarn took his leave, gesturing for a maid to bring the guardians some refreshments and returned to where Drake was standing.

"We should notify Caleb, didn't he mention training someone named Matt?" Drake had finally remembered something about the name, the young man who had accompanied the guardians in the final battle against Phobos, and had spent most of the party after dancing with Will.

"Yes, he did. Let's go." Aldarn lead the way to where Caleb had said he was going, one of the nearby lakes to spend some time with his father.

It didn't take long, and both Caleb and Julian noticed their approach and moved to meet them.

"What happened? The Sorceress attack?"

"She's kidnapped Matt, the mage is working on a locator spell as we speak, the guardians are waiting in one of Elyon's parlors." Aldarn explained.

"Why would she take Matt?" Caleb was a little disturbed by the news.

"You were training him, weren't you?"

"Yeah, he asked me to … I was going to practice with him some more this weekend." Caleb stopped talking, needing some time to think. One of the hardest lesson to drill into someone, recognizing when one was out-classed and that retreat was not only a viable option, but the best option if one of your allies was more capable than you. The rebellion had lost their fair share of reckless recruits that hadn't understood that, and more than a few had learned the lesson the hard way when their recklessness had gotten someone else hurt.

Matt had thankfully realized it without getting himself or someone else hurt. The younger boy was a good fighter, Caleb would even consider him a sword-brother, which was something he rarely considered anyone, and would be proud to fight beside him. Matt had also helped him with Cornelia, despite claiming not to be an expert on earth girls, his advice had kept Caleb from making a fool of himself around earth girls that wanted to separate him from Cornelia. (Earth girls were vicious in that regard.)

" _So, are you and Cornelia, like, totally exclusive?" A girl with blonde hair and a red hat leaned against the locker next to his temporary one._

" _Huh?" Caleb blinked, having been focused on finding his Math book- a good portion of it he understood, having to plan supplies and routes for the rebellion, but what cosign and trisign had to do with anything, he had no clue. "I guess-"_

" _Yes, they are." Matt interrupted, and pulled Caleb's Math book from his own bag. "You forgot this yesterday, dude."_

" _I was, like, asking Caleb, not you." The girl huffed, pushing herself between Matt and Caleb. "So, like, are you?" She looked at Caleb, and Caleb saw Matt mouthing 'Say Yes'._

" _Yeah, we are." The girl stalked off. "What does 'totally exclusive' mean?"_

" _It means that you and Cornelia are only dating each other, and aren't interested in anyone else." Matt explained. "Some couples are inclusive, meaning they allow each other to date other people, sometimes breaking apart. She was trying to get you to date her and break up with Cornelia."_

" _Oh." Caleb blinked. He hadn't been paying any attention, so the girl was trying to get him to say something that would have gotten him in trouble without him realizing. "You really can't let your guard down around girls can you?"_

" _Depends on the girl." Matt smiled. "Practice later?"_

But why would Nerissa capture Matt? Sure, his capture might distract Will, but it would only cause the guardians to get angry once they got him back. Nerissa had proven to be smart, operating several steps ahead of them- the result of having 40 years to plan and gather information. She wouldn't make a move that wouldn't benefit her in some way.

"-leb. Caleb!" Aldarn grabbed his shoulder, and Caleb blinked, looking at him. "Why are you so distracted?"

"Trying to think of why the Sorceress would capture Matt, even for a distraction, it's risky." Caleb noticed Drake and his father looking at him. "The guardians are upset, they'll fight harder, No matter what the sorceress does, this will make them more focused. So she must be after something else with Matt."

"But what else could it be?"

"I don't know, and that's what worries me." Caleb ignored the Queen's foster parents in order to head to the parlor where the guardians were waiting.

* * *

Back on earth at Mount Thanos, Matt was about about to discover exactly what Nerissa wanted as the ex-guardian made her appearance.

"Comfortable, Dear heart?"

"Let me OUT!" Matt demanded.

* * *

 **That's the start, I'm skipping over the transformation bit, I'm guessing from the timeline that Nerissa was busy as the Mage until the guardians were out of school, and then she headed over to turn Matt into Shagon- then there was another gap of time where she had to be the mage before she returned again to make Tridart and Ember.**

 **Next Chapter will be out soonish.**


End file.
